Press digest

The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:

The Times says the prime minister is willing to publish the power station contract only if BWSC approves, since there is a confidentiality clause. It also reports that the Israeli ambassador has expressed regret over the shooting of a Maltese woman in Gaza.

The Malta Independent says the visit to Malta by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is still on, but a date still has not been fixed. It also says that a flasher has prowled Sliema streets.

In-Nazzjon says Stainless Steeel Products of Marsa has recovered and is looking for new markets. The company invested and re-trained its workers after government assistance. It also says that Michael Vella Haber, managing director of One Productions, has gone out on long leave after an argument with chairman Jason Micallef.

l-orizzont says the Prime Minister has admitted he did not see the power station extension contract before it was signed. The PL said this confirmed irresponsibility.

The overseas press:

The Financial Times reports Europe's debt crisis has mushroomed as Standard & Poors cut Spain's rating to AA from AA+ amid concerns about the country's growth prospects following the collapse of a property bubble. Stock and bond markets had begun to regain their composure after downgrades of Greece and Portugal the day before, when the credit agency delivered more bad news.

Börzen Zeitung says that at the same time, in Berlin, Germany tried to reassure nervous investors that Greece's economy would not be allowed to go under. Germany is being asked to contribute 8.4 billion euros as part of a 45 billion euro aid package from the EU and the IMF. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is hesitant to go against popular opinion in Germany and release the funds unless Greece puts up a concrete plan to rein in its finances.

Meanwhile, Kathemirini reports that widespread strikes erupted in Greece yesterday as bad news poured in from the tourism sector and the stock exchange tried to ward off speculators. More protests are planned to oppose spending cuts and tax hikes enacted by the government to beat back rampant public deficits and a debt of nearly 300 billion euros.

The Washington Times announces that Republicans in the US Senate have dropped their objection to a debate on a bill to bring accountability to Wall Street - the most significant reforms to financial regulations since the 1930s. Republicans had blocked action on the bill for three consecutive days.

Al Jazeera quotes Gaza medical officials claiming Israeli soldiers have shot and killed a 19-year-old Palestinian during a protest against a buffer zone being built between the eastern Gaza Strip and Israel. Meanwhile, at least four Palestinians died and five others were suffering from inhalation injuries in a tunnel beneath the border between the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah and Egypt. They claimed that Egyptian security forces had spread a toxic material into the tunnels to prevent smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.

The New York Times quotes US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice telling the UN that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has applied for a visa to visit the United States to attend next week's nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference in New York. The US and five other powers - Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany - are discussing proposed new UN sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a key step on the road to creating nuclear weapons.

USA Today says emergency teams launched a "controlled burn" operation to stop a giant oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico from spreading. About 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) of oil a day have been leaking into the sea from a well since an explosion on a drilling rig off Louisiana last week.

Inevitably many of today's London front pages concentrate on Gordon Brown's "bigot" gaffe. The Independent says that during his tenure at No10, the British Prime Minister spent 22 minutes talking to Barack Obama at the White House but spent 39 minutes apologising to Gillian Duffy after calling her a "bigot". Mr Brown had just given an interview to the Financial Times, insisting the country needed him to steer Britain through tough economic times, when he went on to insult Ms Duffy, who challenged him on Britain's public deficit and immigration, among other topics.